


Blaze of Glory

by isabeau25



Series: Paladins and their Pets [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 11:05:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10017053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isabeau25/pseuds/isabeau25
Summary: Keith gets a new friend, or Keith has a soft spot for small animals in need. Answer to the day 2 prompt forplatonicvldweek, quiet / choas.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is not proof read as well as I would like, but I wanted to get it posted today for the prompt. I might give it another edit in a couple days.

Keith wasn’t a big fan of these sorts of big, crowded, open air markets. He didn’t like crowds to start with, but he always felt vulnerable when there were so many people everywhere, and he couldn’t keep track of all of them.

Hunk, Lance, and Pidge loved coming to them though, and Shiro said Keith needed to get out more. Keith would have rather ‘gotten out’ by going someplace that wasn’t a city, but he wasn’t going to argue with Shiro. He didn’t have any qualms though about leaving Shiro on his own to babysit the other paladins. If he was going to make them all come, then he could deal with their short attention spans and desire to touch absolutely everything.

Pidge was trying to spend all the money they had brought with them on some sort of tech toy, and Hunk had already spent a good portion of it on a bunch of strange seeds that the shop owner swore would grow into food. The shop owner had looked shady to Keith, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Hunk had just wasted a bunch of money on weeds.

Lance, at least, usually bartered at these sorts of markets. He brought odds and ends and traded them for random and useless things. He had just traded a pouch full of beads and buttons for a huge sack of what looked to be embroidery floss, and Keith had no idea what he was going to do with that. He probably didn’t want to know.

Keith watched Shiro forcefully drag Pidge away from the stall with all the gadgets and over to Hunk, where he politely told the shop keeper they weren’t buying anymore seeds, then dragged Hunk away too, and decided it was maybe time to do a little exploring of the market on his own before he got dragged into trying to help keep track of them.

He turned down a quieter street that seemed to be mostly full of stalls selling books and art. It wasn’t much better than the main street, but there was room to walk down it without constantly being jostled. If their translation program had worked better, he would have been tempted to buy a few books, but it was still clunky and rendered phrases strangely, even when going from Altean to English, which they used pretty often and were constantly trying to fine tune.

Languages were just difficult, even for computers. Maybe especially for computers.

Keith picked up a book anyway, his interest piqued by the strange dragon-like creature on the cover, and thumbed through it, hoping for a few pictures to tell him what it was about. As he was looking, he caught a movement in the peripheral of his sight and immediately looked up, his hand itching for his bayard, although he didn’t pull it out from where it was tucked under his jacket.

A gangly alien in a dirty apron dumping a crate in an alley was probably not worth drawing his bayard over. He was a little suspicious though when the alien gave it a vicious kick, then glared at it, before going back inside. Keith frowned and set the book back down, going to take a look.

There might be something interesting in a crate that induced anger in people after all.

The crate was full of packing material, and as Keith began carefully pulling it out, he heard a series of tiny, distressed chirps and squeaks, like an upset baby bird. He speed up his efforts to get the packing material out of the way, but with no less caution. He had been bitten by birds before, and it hurt.

He was almost to the bottom of the crate when he spotted the little ball of fur, trembling and mewing unhappily. So not a bird then.

“Hey, little guy,” Keith said softly, reaching his hand slowly towards it, fingers curled in a fist so they would be harder to bite.

The creature uncurled slowly, sniffing at Keith’s hand, then chirping again and trying to gnaw on it. It wasn’t biting hard, and it reminded Keith of the way puppies could be mouthy when they were young. It reminded Keith of a weasel or ferret, with dark chocolaty fur scatter with spots like the ones on a fawn. A ridge of golden fur ran from the top of its head all the way down its tail.

If it had been an earth animal, Keith would have said it was a baby just from the proportions and how unsteady it was, but he had no idea how that translated to an alien species.

Well, he wasn’t leaving it here, that was for sure, and it wasn’t like this was the first time he had rescued an animal, although the fact that he wouldn’t be able to release it in its home environment one it was ready if he took it on board the ship did complicate things. That and having no idea what it was. He did like a challenge though.

He picked it up carefully out of the crate, cradling it gently in the crook of his arm. It chirped and squeaked in fear, curling into a tiny ball with its nose hidden under its puffy tail. Keith stroked a finger along its back, talking to it softly as he stood.

Before heading out of the alley, he kicked the crate in front of the door, hoping the guy would trip over it next time he came out.

It would be good if he could at least learn something about the animal before he took it back to the castle. He probably wouldn’t have access to too much information after they left here. He scanned the street stalls and spotted the bookseller who had let him thumb through her books even though he hadn’t bought anything.

“Excuse me,” Keith had to grab the little animal around the middle when it tried to burrow between his elbow and side; it seemed more like it was trying to hide then escape.

The bookseller gave him a questioning look, all three of her eyes darting to the furry thing in his arms.

“Do you know what kind of animal this is?” Keith asked, pulling it away from his arm so she could get a better look.

The little thing mewed pitifully, trying to hide again.

“Oh, that’s a baby snarvader,” the bookseller said with disinterest once she recognized it.

That wasn’t very helpful for Keith.

“Is it like a pet?” he tried, letting the snarvader hide itself back in the crook of his arm.

“Some people keep them as pets,” she shrugged, “but a lot of people think of them as pests.”

“Do you know what they eat?” Keith pulled the baby away from his elbow when it started chewing on his jacket.

“Pet kibble,” she offered uncertainly, “I really don’t know much about them. Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Keith got a better hold on the snarvader, lifting it up to curl against his chest, “thanks for the help.”

Keith decided he would probably be better off going back to the castle and looking up the creature in the castle database, then wandering from stall to stall trying to find someone who knew something about it. He contacted Shiro to let him know he was heading back, then tucked the wiggly, squeaky little fur ball into his arms and headed home.

* * *

It proved harder than expected to find information on the snarvader. Keith didn’t know how to spell it, and even if he did, switching from an alien alphabet to a Romanized one wasn’t an exact science and the translation program just seemed confused by his attempts.

Water, at least, he figured would be good, and the baby had agreed, lapping it up happily from the plate Keith had poured it on. Then it had chirped at him and pawed at his hand, obviously wanting to be fed.

Coran had told them the food goo was “universal sustenance,” but Keith had his doubts about it being suitable for every animal in the universe. He had to try something though. He knew from a childhood full of rescuing squirrels, lizards, and baby birds that young animals needed to be fed regularly, or they would get sick.

So he tried the food goo, and while the snarvader was interested enough to lick a little off his finger, it didn’t really seem to want to eat it. It didn’t mind rubbing it all over its face though.

Keith glared at the useless tablet on his bed and wondered, not for the first time, why the universal translators that let them understand people and be understood when they spoke worked so well, and the translator for written languages was so terrible.

He had just managed to clean the goo out of the snarvader’s fur when there was a knock on the door and Lance let himself in. Keith was slowly getting used to that. Lance knocked, but rarely waited for permission to enter a room. Boundaries were not Lance’s thing, apparently.

“Hey Keith, did you…?” Lance’s question trailed off when he spotted the fur ball on Keith’s lap, “what’s that, and where did you get it?”

Keith sighed. At least Lance sounded curious and not scandalized.

“It’s a snarvader, I guess,” Keith picked the squirming baby up and held it close to his chest when it tried to burrow under his shirt to hide from Lance, “someone dumped it in a crate in an alleyway.”

“Nice to know there are jerks everywhere,” Lance snorted, “what are you going to do with it?”

“Take care of it, if I can figure out how,” Keith rubbed the snarvader between the ears and it chirped happily, “I can’t find it in the data base.”

“Did you try a photo search?” Lance snatched up the tablet and sat next to him on the bed.

“We can do that?” Keith frowned.

“Totally,” Lance held up the tablet, clicking his tongue to get the snarvader to look up at him before snapping the picture and starting the tablet searching, “it’s really cute. Does it bite?”

“It’s a little mouthy, but it doesn’t bite hard,” Keith shrugged, “its teeth are sharp though.”

While the tablet searched, Lance held his finger out to the snarvader to let it sniff him. It chirped and rubbed its head against Lance’s hand. Keith let it go cautiously, and it crept up Lance’s leg, sniffing at his jacket pocket.

The tablet beeped to let them know it had found something, and the snarvader jumped and scrambled back to Keith, scrambling up his arm to perch on his shoulder and growl at the tablet.

“Wow, even its growl is cute,” Lance grinned and scrolled through the search returns.

“It would be less cute if it was actually biting you,” Keith reached up to scratch the snarvader’s head.

“It would still be cute,” Lance shrugged, “it would just hurt more. Those are not mutually exclusive things.”

“You are so weird,” Keith said without any venom.

“Here it is” Lance ignored him, “wouldn’t have thought to spell it that way.”

Lance pulled up the article and started skimming through it while the snardvader seemed to regain its courage and crept down from Keith’s shoulder, stalking towards the tablet in Lance’s lap.

“So, predator, obviously,” Lance gave it an amused looked, “also dimorphic, so congratulations, it’s a boy.”

Lance held up the tablet so Keith could see the photos comparing the male and female of the species. They were obviously adults, and their fur had changed to a tawny golden color with black stripes. One sported a pale ridge down the back that stood up straight like a crest, the other had a purple ridge.

Keith tried to read the captions, and realized they were still in Altean.

“Are you not translating that?” he glanced at Lance.

“The translation program is seriously obnoxious,” Lance pulled the tablet back and went back to reading, “it was less annoying just to learn to read it.”

“Pidge almost got mauled trying to learn Altean,” Keith gaped at him.

“She was trying to gain a conversational fluency,” Lance waved his hand dismissively, “I just needed a reading comprehension. That’s much easier. Also, that program explains a lot about Allura.”

“You just…” Keith blinked at him, then had to catch the snarvarder to stop it from pouncing on the tablet.

“Anyway,” Lance went back to the article, “they’re technically carnivores, mostly small prey like rodents, although apparently, they’ll sometimes eat nuts or things like that if prey is scarce. You better make sure you train it not to go after the mice, or Allura will be pissed.”

“Right,” Keith tried to hold onto the snarvader, but it wiggles out of his grasp again and climbed up his arm to perch on his head. It stood on its rear legs like a prairie dog and chirped at Lance like it was scolding him, “so the goo probably isn’t going to work.”

“It might be okay,” Lance gave the baby an amused look, “Hunk said the goo is mostly synthetic protein with vitamins and minerals added. Apparently, there’s a way to change the make-up of it. You should talk to him about it.”

“That’s promising at least,” Keith tried to grab the snarvader off his head, and it jumped down to his lap and ran under his arm to burrow under his pillow.

Lance laughed, “what are you naming him?”

“Naming?” Keith paused in trying to get the snarvader out from under his pillow.

“If you’re keeping him, you have to name him,” Lance bookmarked the article on the snarvader for Keith, then hit the translation button so he could actually read it, “those are the rules.”

“Who’s rules?” Keith demanded, pulling his hand back when the snarvader tried to pounce on it.

“The rules,” Lance grinned, “that’s just the way it is. If you don’t name him, I will. He looks like an Aronnax to me.”

“Really?” Keith huffed, managing to catch the squirmy creature, “he’s like a ferret, not a fish.”

“Ha! You got the reference!” Lance practically cheered.

Keith couldn’t do anything about the blush that spread across his cheeks. It was always frustrating how few of the references from the rest of the team he got. He just hadn’t grown up watching much TV. He would much rather be reading or outside doing something. It wasn’t really a big deal, but sometimes he felt like he was missing out on things with the team.

“I’m still not calling him that,” Keith grumbled.

“Well, come up with something then,” Lance handed him the tablet, “there you go, all translated. _Dimorphic_ is now _color coded_ , so good luck.”

“Thanks,” Keith said dryly.

“No problem,” Lance pushed himself up and reached down to give the snarvader a pat before leaving.

Keith held the snarvader up over his head, and it leaned down to sniff at his face.

“Don’t eat the mice,” Keith said firmly.

The snarvader chirped back at him, and Keith couldn’t help but grin.

“Let’s go find Hunk,” he tucked the baby in the crook of his arm and headed down to the kitchen.

* * *

Hunk was not in the kitchen, and when Keith finally managed to track him down, he found him in one of the castle’s machine shops. He has something in pieces and spread out all over his worktable, and his soldering goggles on. He looked up when Keith came in, and the snarvader hissed at him and burrowed under Keith’s jacket, making him flinch at the little claws prickling through his shirt.

“What was that?” Hunk pushed his goggles up on his head, looking alarmed.

“It’s a snarvader,” Keith pulled him out, needing both hands to unhook his claws.

“It’s a space ferret,” Hunk squinted at it, “what are you doing with it?”

“Trying to figure out how to feed it,” Keith tucked the snarvader into the crook of his arm, and he hid his face in Keith’s elbow, “also I think your goggles are freaking him out.”

“Oh, sorry,” Hunk pulled them off and put them on the workbench, “what does it eat?”

“He’s a carnivore, mostly small prey like rodents,” Keith stroked the snarvader’s head, and he peeked out at Hunk, looking at him curiously, “Lance thought you might be able to modify the food goo so it would work for him.”

“It might already be okay for him,” Hunk said thoughtfully, “it’s mostly just protein anyway.”

“He won’t eat it though. He mostly just plays in it,” Keith frowned.

“Well, I can try to make it taste meaty, I guess,” Hunk rubbed the back of his head, “are you keeping him?”

“Yeah,” Keith let the snarvader climb up to his shoulder, “he’s too young to release back to where I found him, and by the time he’s old enough, we won’t be anywhere near here.”

“Have you asked Allura yet?” Hunk held his hand out cautiously for the snarvader to sniff.

“Why?” Keith gave him a blank look.

Hunk gaped at him for a moment, then shook his head, “right. So if you’re keeping him, you have to name him.”

“You and Lance,” Keith grumbled.

“Huh?” when the snarvader didn’t bite him, Hunk tentatively stroked his head.

“Never mind,” Keith shook his head, “can you help me with the food thing? He needs to eat soon.”

“Yeah, sure,” Hunk pushed away from his workbench and stood up with a stretch, “what about Chester?”

“Chester?” Keith let the snarvader climb up his arm to ride on his shoulder as they headed towards the kitchen.

“As a name,” Hunk clarified, “he looks like a Chester.”

“That’s a terrible name,” Keith said flatly.

“Yeah, totally,” Hunk agreed, “but try it for a couple days. I bet it will grow on you.”

Keith shook his head, wondering if maybe Lance and Hunk spent a little too much time together.

“Oh!” Hunk stopped so suddenly Keith jumped and the snarvader almost fell off his shoulder.

The snarvader chittered irritably at both of them, and Keith reached up to scratch him under the chin.

“I’m going to build him a space ferret palace!” Hunk said excitedly.

“A what?” Keith looked at him as if he thought he had lost it just a little.

“Well, you have to have an enclosure for him, right?” Hunk started walking again.

“I don’t really…” Keith frowned, not liking the idea of putting the snarvader in a cage.

“No, seriously, you need a safe place to keep him when we’re out,” Hunk explained, “so he doesn’t get into stuff he shouldn’t and get hurt.”

“I guess so,” Keith could see why that would be practical and necessary.

There were lots of things on the castle that a small creature like a snarvader could get in trouble with; there were lots of things on the castle that they could get in trouble with, and they weren’t even that small.

“It will be awesome!” Hunk said enthusiastically, “I’ll make it huge, like ten feet, with platforms, and things for him to climb, and boxes for him to nest in, and toys…”

Keith smiled as he followed after Hunk. A space ferret palace did seem like a good idea, and if Hunk was willing to help, he wasn’t going to object.

“Of course, we’ll have to find out what kind of bedding little Chester likes…” Hunk continued his rambling.

“I’m not naming him Chester!”

* * *

It had been a very long day, and kind of terrible really. Although, no one was dead, so that was something. There had been a lot of blood though, and Lance and Pidge were both in the healing pods.

His bedroom door slid shut behind him, and he ran his hands tiredly over his face. Shiro was wired, Hunk was a mess, and Keith just needed a little bit of quiet.

The snarvader chirped and cooed at him from his enclosure, excited that Keith was back.

Hunk had outdone himself with his space ferret palace. It took up half a wall and reached from floor to ceiling, and Hunk was still adding things to it when ideas struck him.

Keith opened the enclosure, and the snarvader jumped out, scurrying up his arm to perch on his shoulder and rub against his cheek.

“I’m all dirty, buddy,” Keith reached up to scratch his ears, then pulled him off his shoulder and set him on the bed.

The snarvader immediately dove under the pillow, and Keith could help but grin as the pillow bounced around while he rooted under it. He started stripping off his armor and dropping it on the floor. He would clean it properly soon, but he really wanted a shower and just to sit down for a few minutes.

Chirping came from the bed, and Keith looked over to find the snarvader had emerged from under the pillow with a fuzzy ball that Lance had given him. He stood on his hind legs, ball in his mouth and looking expectantly at Keith.

Keith snorted softly and took the ball, throwing it up to the top of the enclosure. The snarvader raced after it, climbing up the wire mesh with a burst of speed.

Dropping the last of his armor in a trail behind him, Keith headed into the shower. The hot water felt good even if it did sting against all his cuts and scrapes. It really had been a terrible mission. Keith closed his eyes and tried to rub the knots out of his shoulders. The hot water helped with that at least.

He cracked open an eye when he heard chittering and gave the snarvader a dubious look as he poked his nose into the shower. The last time Keith had had an animal in the shower with him, it had been a cat that had fallen in while nosing around the curtain, and it hadn’t ended well for him.

The snarvader seemed unperturbed by the water though, sniffed at the falling drops, then practically racing under the stream between Keith’s feet. It chirped happily, rolling around in the water and wiggling from head to toe.

“Well, I guess we both like hot showers, huh?” Keith smiled down at him.

The snarvader chittered and set about grooming his tail.

The tension finally eased out of Keith’s shoulders, and he couldn’t help but laugh at the reprimanding squeak he got for turning off the water. After drying himself off, he caught the snarvader in a towel and rubbed him dry as well, then followed him back into his room.

He should probably get dressed and go check on Hunk and Shiro, but he found himself reaching his sweats and a t-shirt instead. Red sweats, of course, because all the clothes Coran provided for them were color coded. Keith had had to steal one of Shiro’s shirts just to get away from not wearing solid red all the time.

The snarvader curled up on the edge of the pillow, where it usually slept at night, and Keith sat heavily on his bed. He had socks… somewhere… and shoes…

He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the snarvader again. It wouldn’t hurt to lie down for just a bit; he wouldn’t want the snarvader to get lonely or cold while it was napping. Just for a few minutes.

Keith curled on his side so he could pet the furry little creature, and the snarvader made a buzzing sound Keith had come to associate with him being happy. It kind of reminded him of crickets on a summer night…

Keith opened his eyes without remembering closing them and knew he had been asleep for a while. His room was dim and cool, like the inside of a desert cave on a hot afternoon, and he was comfortable. The snarvader had curled under Keith’s arm and was sleeping soundly, nose tucked under his bushy tail.

Keith felt much better.

He really should go check on Shiro and Hunk, and maybe Lance and Pidge as well. There was no way he had slept long enough for them to be out of the healing pods, but he would still feel better if he checked on them.

He ran a gentle finger down the ridge of the sleeping snarvader and smiled contently. Maybe building a pool for the space ferret palace would be just the distraction Hunk needed.

* * *

“Really Hunk, I’m sure just a bin or something would be fine,” Keith snatched up the snarvader before he could dig into Hunk’s tool box, tucking him into the crook of his arm.

While Lance and Pidge had been in the healing pods still, Keith had been happy to let Hunk come up with complicated plans for a ridiculous sophisticated pool for the snarvader. It had been a good distraction for him. Now that he was actually trying to build something, it seemed unnecessarily complex.

“No, this is going to be cool,” Hunk assured him, “Pidge is working on this nano-tech thing for it.”

“Nano-tech, really?” Keith set the snarvader up on his shoulder and boosted himself up to sit on a corner of Hunk’s workbench he wasn’t using.

“Yep,” Pidge came in carrying a crate so big it hid her face, “to stop him from getting water everywhere.”

“Doesn’t that seem a little overkill?” Keith frowned at her.

“Well I think so, but Hunk said…” Pidge dropped the crate, then blinked at Keith.

Suddenly Pidge was right in front of him, on her toes and leaning in. Keith leaned back, startled by how fast she had moved.

“That’s the space ferret?” Pidge reached up to try to pet him, and he chittered at her and jumped onto Keith’s head, “Hunk, why didn’t you tell me how cute he is?”

“I did,” Hunk said mildly, continuing with his work, “but after I said ‘nano-tech,’ your eyes glazed over and you stopped listening.”

“Yeah, probably,” Pidge reached out again, and the snarvader dropped into the space between Keith’s neck and the collar of his jacket, making him shutter.

“Does he not like me?” Pidge pouted sadly.

“No, you just startled him,” Keith pulled him out from behind his neck gingerly.

The snarvader had taken to curling up in Lance’s hood when Keith wasn’t around, and now he seemed to think that was an optimal hiding place whether there was a hood there or not. It didn’t help that he had just about outgrown the pockets in Keith’s jacket.

“Will he bite?” Pidge gave the ball of fur a dubious look as Keith tucked him into the crook of his elbow again.

“Not unless you don’t leave him alone when he’s upset,” Keith shrugged, “let him settle down a little, and you should be able to pet him.”

“We’re going to build you the best space ferret pool ever,” Pidge cooed, leaning forward to get a better look, “and you can splash all you want, and the nano-bots will make sure you don’t track water all over the castle.”

“What happens if he eats them?” Keith asked, scratching the snarvader under the chin.

“Eats?” Pidge looked at him blankly.

“Yeah,” Keith frowned at her, “what happens if he ends up accidently eating the nano-bots?”

“Um… well…” Pidge frowned, “nothing… I’ll make sure nothing happens.”

“Thanks,” Keith said dryly.

The snarvader peered out at Pidge curiously, the crept down Keith’s arm to sit on his hands, cocking his head to the side and chittering.

“He’s so cute,” Pidge squealed, “now can I pet him?”

“Sure,” Keith snickered; it was amusing to see Pidge excited about something that wasn’t a piece of tech.

Pidge reached out and tentatively rubbed the snarvader’s head. When he chirped and puffed up happily, Pidge’s eyes lit up, and she ran her hand down his back.

“Have you named him yet?” she asked eagerly.

“No,” Keith shook his head.

“We’re trying out Chester,” Hunk pipped up, “you know, just as a trial.”

“No, we’re not,” Keith said firmly.

“How about Rover Jr?” Pidge grinned hugely.

“I am not naming him after your robot,” Keith let the snarvader jump from his hands to Pidge’s arm, and she froze in delight.

After a moment the snarvader ran up to her shoulder and perched there on his hide legs, looking around, then started picking through her hair with his nose and front paws.

“Rover was a great robot!” Pidge protested, once she was sure she wasn’t going to get bitten, “also, what is he doing?”

“He’s grooming you,” Keith laughed, “He thinks you need to brush your hair more often.”

“Like you’re one to talk. Do you even know what a brush is?” Pidge huffed, then grinned when the snarvader rubbed against her cheek.

“No,” Keith deadpanned, “my hair never tangles.”

Hunk snickered.

“Maybe I should just hold onto this little guy,” Pidge scratched the snarvader under the chin, “I mean for research, for the pool.”

“I don’t think so,” Keith clicked his tongue, and the snarvader immediately scampered down Pidge and hopped back into Keith’s arms, snuggling into the crook of his elbow.

“Fine,” Pidge huffs, “but if you’re keeping him, you have to name him.”

“Says who?” Keith rubbed the snarvader between the ears.

“Those are the rules, man,” Hunk pointed a screwdriver at him, “if you keep it, you have to name it.”

“Who came up with these rules, and why do I have to follow them?” Keith demanded.

“That’s just the way it is,” Pidge shrugged.

“Naming him is like making him yours,” Hunk said, “like making him part of a family.”

Keith looked down at the contently buzzing snarvader in his arms with a frown.

“I’m not naming him Chester,” he said firmly.

Pidge took a breath.

“Or Rover Jr.” Keith cut her off.

Pidge grumbled and started unpacking her box, and Keith stayed for a while, watching them work while the snarvader slept contently in the crook of his arm.

Maybe he would have to name him after all.

* * *

Keith liked real books. He liked the weight of them and being able to turn the pages, but there were no translation program for the actual books in the library, so he had to settle for the awkward translations of digital copies on a tablet.

Maybe he should take a stab at learning to read Altean, but language had never really been his thing and he’d rather just settle for the bad translations.

The snarvader yawned in his lap, standing to turn a circle before resettling, forcing Keith to lift his tablet out of the way momentarily before he could return to reading. He thought it was a fantasy novel, but he was still unsure about what Altean magic could actually do, so for all he knew, he was reading a history text.

He absently petted the snarvader in his lap as they both settled back down. He was shedding like crazy, growing into his adult coat, and his fur was almost blotchy as it transitions from the adolescent black to the tawny gold with black stripes of an adult. Black tips had started appearing on his crest as well. He was obnoxious about being brushed out though, always trying to bite the comb, so Keith had mostly given up on that.

Snardvaders somehow make it through shedding in the wild without a comb, so he didn’t see why it would be a necessary, although he kind of missed his clothes not being covered in fur. It would pass eventually though.

“So that’s the space ferret?” Shiro sprawled onto the couch next to Keith, and the snarvader perked up, crest raising like a mohawk in curiosity.

“You haven’t seen him yet?” Keith glanced up; he had been sure Shiro had seen him before, but maybe not.

“Nope,” Shiro held his hand out lazily for the snarvader to sniff, “but I have heard all about Chester Aronnax Rover jr and how his enclosure is nicer than our rooms.”

“That is not his name,” Keith said firmly.

Shiro laughed, rubbing the snarvader’s ears when he pushed against his hand, “then you better pick one you like before it sticks.”

Keith grumbled, and Shiro smirked at him, holding still when the snarvader decided to climb up his arm and sit on his shoulder.

“At least he’s cute,” Shiro scratched the snarvader under the chin, “not like those creepy squirrel babies you used to save.”

“They were adorable,” Keith huffed, “you only think they were ugly because you’re heartless.”

Shiro laughed, startling the snarvader, who jumped from his shoulder and raced back to Keith, clamoring up onto his head then chittering at Shiro, ridge raised all the way down his back in irritation.

Shiro looked distinctly unimpressed.

“You really should name him though,” Shiro smiled, “otherwise everyone is just going to keep calling him by whatever name they want.”

“I don’t know,” Keith tapped his shoulder, and the snarvader came off his head to perch there, happily buzzing when Keith rubbed his chin.

“What about Chief?” Shiro suggested.

“You’re terrible at naming things,” Keith groaned.

“Better then you,” Shiro leaned his head against the back of the couch contently, “you never name anything.”

“It just doesn’t seem necessary,” Keith complained.

“Unless you want him to be called Chester Aronnax Rover jr, it’s necessary,” Shiro pointed out.

Keith frowned, glaring vaguely at the snarvader as it came down from his shoulder to settle back in his lap. Names were important. Once you named something, you were supposed to be responsible for it. Keith didn’t want to mess that up, so it had always seemed better not to.

“You could call him Akira,” Shiro grinned.

“Terrible at names,” Keith repeated.

Shiro shrugged, “I guess you can call him C.A.R. for short, or Car. That’s kind of cute.”

“Blaze,” Keith said sharply, “his name is Blaze. Stop calling him stupid names.”

Shiro regarded the snarvader as it yawned hugely, showing off small, sharp teeth.

“Yeah, I could see that,” he said, “now that you’ve named him, you have to keep him though.”

Keith glared and pointedly went back to his book.

* * *

Lance clicked his tongue, holding out a piece of purple ‘space popcorn’. It didn’t taste that much like popcorn, but it had a satisfying crunch, and Hunk had managed to tease a salty sweetness into it that made it a good movie watching snack.

Blaze perked up from where he had been sitting on Pidge’s knee, scampering up Shiro’s leg and across Hunk’s lap to take the treat from Lance’s hand. Lance scratched his ears, then his rump, causing him to wiggle his rear happily before looking up at Lance expectantly. Lance was happy to oblige, holding out another piece of popcorn and grinning as Blaze settled in his lap to munch away.

“He didn’t say that in the book,” Keith complained, sounding much more frustrated then he had the last time he said it, which was actually a little impressive.

“Maybe he meant to,” Pidge deadpanned, not taking her eyes from her laptop screen.

“He did not!” Keith protested, “and why does he keep flipping his hair like that? Why does he even have long hair?”

Shiro did his best to muffle his snickers in the pillow he was holding to his chest.

“I told you we should have watched the remake,” Lance smirked, knowing already that no movie based on a book was ever going to reach Keith’s exacting standards, “that was much more like the book.”

Hunk nudged Lance with his shoulder, and Blaze gave him a curious look. It was enough to distract him from trying to stop Lance from egging Keith on, and instead, he offered the snarvader a piece of popcorn, coaxing him from Lance’s lap to his.

“No it wasn’t,” Keith scowled, “it got all the important stuff wrong too.”

Shiro pressed his face harder into the pillow. He had discovered the joys of watching movies with Keith a long time ago. It almost didn’t matter to him what they watched, because Keith was the entertainment. Pidge seemed to have figured that out and intentionally suggested movies based on books when it was her turn to choose. Lance might have too, although his goal seemed to be finding a movie based on a book Keith hadn’t read. He hadn’t found one yet, at least, not one he was actually willing to sit through.

“The music in this one is better,” Pidge shrugged.

“The special effects in the remake are way better,” Lance argued.

“They totally are,” Hunk agreed, “but the story kind of flows better in this one.”

“They left three whole chapters out!” Keith glared, “and the remake skips like half a book.”

Shiro choked on his laughter, and Keith scowled at him from the other side of the couch. Lance and Hunk hadn’t realized yet that Shiro was using them as a human shield. Keith took his books seriously.

“See, they only missed three chapters,” Pidge wasn’t quite hiding her smirk, “this one is better.”

Keith made a disgruntled sound and slouched down, purposely stretching his legs to poke at Pidge. Shiro held his breath, because he had watched this movie with Keith before, and he knew what scene was next.

“He didn’t do that!” Keith’s voice was loud enough to startle the snarvader, who came up on his hind legs on Hunk’s lap, crest rising, “that’s the exact opposite of what he did!”

Shiro’s efforts to hold in his laugh ended in him snorting loudly.

“Stop laughing!” Keith grabbed a pillow, lunging across Lance and Hunk to try to hit Shiro with it.

Pidge calmly saved the bowl of popcorn from Shiro’s lap without looking up, and Hunk and Lance, used to siblings randomly flinging themselves over them, simply leaned back, lifting their arms out of the way. Blaze chittered in alarm, scurrying off Hunk’s lap, across Shiro’s, then up his arm and onto the back of the couch.

There were a few minutes of tussling where Pidge got kneed in the back, and Shiro proved, again, that his arms were much longer then Keith’s, but Keith still managed to hit him in the face with a pillow multiple times before Shiro got the pillow away from him. Lance and Hunk were not helpful to anyone, even each other, and Lance positively squealed when he discovered Keith was ticklish along his ribs, which resulted in Hunk getting elbowed, and Lance almost getting kicked in the head.

In the end, Keith collapsed sprawled across Hunk and Lance, face buried in a pillow on Shiro’s lap. Hunk and Lance were only too happy to use his back as an armrest, and Lance reached over him, taking back the popcorn bowl and sitting it on the small of Keith’s back where they could all reach it. Hunk dropped a piece of popcorn between Keith’s shoulder blades, and Blaze crept cautiously down Hunk’s arm to claim it, then proceeded to curl up on Keith’s back as well, trapping him where he was more effectively than any of them ever could have managed to.

“I hate you all,” Keith grumbled into the pillow, “except Blaze.”

“That’s okay,” Pidge reached back, flailing blindly in the direction of Keith’s shoulder and mostly patting his head instead, “we’ll keep you anyway.”

* * *

Lance did chores almost automatically. If he came into a room and spotted something that needed to be done, he usually just did it. For a while Shiro had felt like he should get up and help Lance whenever he spotted him loading the dishwasher or cleaning the commons area, but eventually he had realized Lance needed things to do, and left him to it.

He was unloading the dishwasher when Shiro came into the kitchen, and Shiro rumpled his hair as he walked by, pausing to scratch Blaze’s ears when the snarvader popped his head out of Lance’s hood, then started the almost-coffee brewer. While it brewed, he boosted himself up on the counter and went back to reading the logs from their last mission on his tablet.

He was just about to ask Lance what he had meant by “they were so stupid I decided not to freeze them” when Allura came in.

“Good morning, paladins,” she greeted cheerfully, then froze.

Shiro looked up to find her staring at Blaze, who had poked his head out of Lance’s hood at the sound of her voice. It occurred to Shiro that the princess might not have ever actually seen Blaze and possibly didn’t known Keith had him. Keith let him run around the residential area of the castle when they were there, but Allura didn’t come into that area too often.

“What is that?” Allura demanded.

“It’s a snarvader,” Lance paused, giving her a curious look.

“You can’t just bring vermin onto the ship,” Allura was looking at Blaze like he might leap out and attack her.

“Okay, one, Keith brought him on board the ship, not me” Lance reached back to rub Blaze’s ears, and the snarvader chittered, then ducked back into his hood, “two, you have pet mice.”

“That’s different,” Allura protested, “and you can’t just blame Keith for everything.”

“What are you blaming me for?” Keith came into the kitchen, looking a little sleepy; it was still early, and just because Keith had dragged himself out of bed to go running didn’t mean he was really awake yet.

Blaze perked up at the sound of Keith’s voice, climbing out of Lance’s hood to perch on his shoulder until Keith was close enough to him to jump onto his outstretched arm. He scurried up Keith’s arm and settled on his shoulder, blinking at Allura, crest raised curiously.

“It really is Keith’s,” Allura murmured in surprise.

“Apparently, it’s okay for Allura to keep mice, but we’re not allowed to have pets,” Lance went back to putting dishes away.

“Isn’t that, like, despotism?” Keith reached up to pull two mugs down from the cupboard, apparently not very worried about Allura’s reaction.

“Well, I mean, kind of,” Lance shrugged, “she’s assuming she has absolute power to enforce arbitrary rules.”

“What?” Allura blinked at them, clearly not sure how to respond to that.

“Maybe tyranny?” Lance offered, “the arbitrary and cruel use of power?”

“Well, technically,” Keith poured a mug of almost-coffee and passed it to Shiro, “it is pretty arbitrary that she gets to have pets, and we don’t.”

Shiro accepted the mug, but pointedly keeps his eyes on his data tablet. It was too early, and he wanted no part of this.

“Wait,” Allura frowned at them, “I’m not being arbitrary.”

“Fascism?” Keith proposed, pouring his own mug of coffee.

“She’s too pretty to be a fascist,” Lance looked away from putting bowls on a high shelf to give the princess a toothy smile, “also, I know she likes fighting things, but I don’t think she’s into one party states.”

“Totalitarianism, then,” Keith boosted himself up on the counter next to Shiro, reaching up to scratch Blaze’s ears with the hand not holding his mug, “authority that recognizes no limits and tries to impose regulation on every aspect of public and private life.”

“Yeah, that sounds right,” Lance handed him a stack of plates to put away on a shelf he couldn’t reach without climbing over Keith.

“Shiro!” Allura looked at him as if he could somehow make them stop.

“Don’t look at me,” Shiro took a sip of his coffee, “I don’t want to be a totalitarian.”

Allura made a frustrated noise, and Keith and Lance snickered.

“I’m not doing any of those things,” Allura said firmly.

“Then why is it a problem for me to keep him?” Keith asked.

“Snarvaders are pests,” Allura said in exasperation.

“That must be why you two get along so well,” Lance smirked at Keith, “you’re both pests.”

“Shut up,” Keith kicked half-heartedly at Lance.

“They’re predators,” Allura ignored them, “it will eat the mice.”

“Oh, is that all,” Keith waved his hand dismissively.

“What do you mean, is that all?” Allura glared at him, “I’m not having something that’s going to eat my mice aboard the ship.”

“Then this is your lucky day,” Lance snickered.

“What?” Allura looked at him blankly.

“Blaze gets along really well with the mice,” Keith clarified, “they play together all the time.”

“Also, Keith spoils him rotten,” Lance put in, “I’m pretty sure he’s never hungry.”

“How do you know it’s playing and not hunting?” Allura gave them both an unconvinced look.

“Because I’ve seen him hunt bugs,” Keith shrugged, “also I’ve had him almost five months now. If he was going to eat them, he would have already.”

“You’ve had him that long?” Allura looked shocked.

“Yeah,” Keith nodded, shifting slightly as Blaze jumped from his shoulder to his lap, “and he hasn’t caused any problems.”

“I suppose he is rather cute,” Allura leaned closer cautiously, as if she thought the snarvader might jump at her.

Keith ran his hand along Blaze’s back, smoothing down his crest, and the snarvader arched into the touch, then turned a few circles before settling in a ball. Keith continued to stroke him, and he buzzed contently.

“Or really cute,” Allura amended, ignoring Lance and Shiro’s snickers.

“So is there a problem?” Keith quirked an eyebrow at her.

“I suppose not,” Allura straightened, “just tell me next time you bring an animal on board, please.”

“Does that mean we can get more?” Lance perked up.

Allura groaned and left the room, leaving Shiro to deal with what would and wouldn’t constitute an appropriate pet on board a spaceship.

She wasn’t certain about having a small predator lurking about the ship, but her paladins seemed happy, and if he hadn’t bothered the mice yet, he probably wasn’t going to.

And he was awfully cute, after all.


End file.
